Nut Cases' wide swath of destruction
Oakland gang ran 'wild,' killing, robbing at random, police say San Francisco Chronicle
February 10, 2003
By Jim Herron Zamora
Oakland -- They got high and played video games during the day, the young men later told police. Their favorite was one called "Grand Theft Auto III," in which players win points for committing violent crimes.
When darkness fell, they told investigators, they did it for real on the streets of Oakland.
They called themselves the "Nut Cases" and roamed the city in an old Buick, looking for targets at random, police say -- robbing dozens and killing five people in the largest single crime wave last year as Oakland reeled from its highest homicide toll since 1997.
Two days after Christmas, two members sprayed bullets into a house party, killing two celebrators inside, including a 14-year-old boy.
Five days after New Year's, they allegedly jumped a young father on the street, took his wallet and killed him as he begged for his life.
A witness to one of the robberies remembered part of the Buick's license plate, and police tracked down the car. Then investigators tracked down six suspects. Police announced the last two arrests last week.
Some of the Nut Cases bragged to investigators about driving up Oakland's homicide rate and relishing the media coverage of their crimes.
"They are a lot more violent and callous than even we are used to," said homicide Sgt. Tim Nolan, a 12-year police veteran.
The five men and a woman, who police say admitted she set up one of the slayings, are in jail facing charges in four of the city's 113 slayings in 2002 and one of the first this year.
They also are charged with nine robberies, and investigators say they may be responsible for 100 violent muggings.
"These individuals were running wild," Police Chief Richard Word said.
The accused are alleged ringleader Leon Wiley, 25; Joe Ralls, 26, and his two younger half-brothers, Demarcus Ralls, 18, and Jhomari Sutton, 20; their cousin, Deonte Donald, 17; and their sister-in-law, Aminah Shanta Dorsey- Colbert, 25. Donald is being charged as an adult.
The bolded out murder in the above article took place 15 feet from my front door when I was living in East Lake. Dude had just finished doing his family's laundry an was returning home to eat with his wife and their newborn baby. Shit was utterly horrifying. It could have easily been me, as I would make frequent trips to the cornerstore down the street.
Fairfield (South West Sydney) is no motherfucking joke. I've seen police baracading streets because of shootings there on more than one occassion - one of the first times I went to see my now wife in fairfield (her home town) this happened actually. LokoOne can probably speak on it more than i can though as he's old skool Fairfield .
Fairfield (South West Sydney) is no motherfucking joke. I've seen police baracading streets because of shootings there on more than one occassion - one of the first times I went to see my now wife in fairfield (her home town) this happened actually. LokoOne can probably speak on it more than i can though as he's old skool Fairfield .
No where near the levels of violence that some dudes have posted up here, but in Sydney we're up there as one of the hot spots. Used to be worse years ago when there was heavy drug trafficking in the area, now things are more chilled in the sense that most of the violence involves ppl that are invovled in some shady shit as opposed to innocent citizens.
The good thing down here is there are not as much hand guns around as the US and like I said the dudes that have them are hardcore crims and usually use them on other criminals. Most of the time if a house gets shot up or a dude gets shot, there is a reason behind it, not just over some dumb shit.
The big problems atm is alot of stabbings and glassings over bullshit, especially young kids, who got no sense of a fiar fight (or even want to have one), that shit is very random and can happen to anyone, Im always weary about that when Im out and about cus Ive seen some really brutal bashings over nothing (sometimes for 'fun')....
But shit...some of the shit in your US cities is extreme.... is it because of the amount of guns around? Or just the mentality of the ppl doing this shit? Would they still be mrudering as much if they didt have guns?
But shit...some of the shit in your US cities is extreme.... is it because of the amount of guns around? Or just the mentality of the ppl doing this shit? Would they still be mrudering as much if they didt have guns?
I don't want to reduce a complicated situation, but yeah, this has a lot to do with it. There are lots of places where violence is common but murder is fairly rare. I think if guns were all of the sudden available in these places that the murder rate would soar.
The availability of drugs sure doesn't help either.
was trying to find some numbers for the past year's murder rate in NOLA, but can only find 2008.
it's been like this in New Orleans for as long as i've been alive. the most recent awful murder to take place was at the beginning of last month: Brandon Franklin, the saxophone player and co-founder of what I think is (was?) one of the most promising young brass bands in the city-TBC Brass Band-was shot and killed while visiting his kid's mom by her jealous boyfriend, who came home after a fight with her and found him there talking to her. shot and killed him, and then turned himself in to the cops a few hours later. this kid was an assistant high school band director and could've been a leading member of this new generation of NOLA musicians.
Weird thing is, in many places they say crime rates are going down. Which doesn't really make sense to me given the shitty economy. In my line of work I'm keenly aware of all the crime that goes down here in the DC area.. and to me it doesn't seem like things are getting any better. I'm suspicious of how they're coming up with these figures.. are they calculating based on convictions? Number of reported crimes? It's in their best interest to under-report. You'd be surprised how many cases are dismissed or pleaded out and never actually even make it to trial, or even beyond a preliminary hearing. Around here most of the time cops don't even show up at preliminary hearings, and therefore cases are nolled prossed or dismissed right away.. and that really throws a wrench in the equation. The whole justice system is completely fucked if you ask me. Truth has very little to do with what generally happens during the course of a criminal proceeding.
in London we don't have so much of the drive-by thing - though saying that a young girl was shot and killed in a fried chicken takeaway spot recently, had no links to any kind of gang or anything. So they think that might have been a gang initiation ritual of some kind. Pretty scary knowing how random that kind of violence is.
Some months ago a young man was stabbed twice and run over 3 times with a car 100 yards from my front door. Defintiely a gang-style execution. The same thing happened a month ago outside my mates house up the road. So yes it does happen and yes it is nearby.
To add to Tom's post on the Richmond shooting (and to add to the fucked upness of RVA at that time), I was actually there and there were TWO kids, one with a Tec 9 and the other who was just acting as the lookout. The kid with the gun only started firing because one of the kids on the porch grabbed his gun. Three people were shot, me and my friend dave took off on bikes to get away and when we got back (pre cell phones so we went to call 911) the kid with the gun was dead in the street and the lookout was gone and never found.
It's sad because I'm sure it was a gang initiation, the kids were only in their teens. The cops were watching the whole scene unfold thinking that they were unmasking a drug deal...
It's true that a bullet was stopped by a NYC subway token...try that with a Metrocard.
Damn. Here is video of the shooting last night. You don't see the shooting, but you hear the gunshots and see people running.
yikes, i used to live on first and bell in the oregon building, which has to be a less than a couple blocks from where this video was shot. that was a about a decade ago, right after they cleaned up belltown and before it apparently went back to shit.
To add to Tom's post on the Richmond shooting (and to add to the fucked upness of RVA at that time), I was actually there and there were TWO kids, one with a Tec 9 and the other who was just acting as the lookout. The kid with the gun only started firing because one of the kids on the porch grabbed his gun. Three people were shot, me and my friend dave took off on bikes to get away and when we got back (pre cell phones so we went to call 911) the kid with the gun was dead in the street and the lookout was gone and never found.
It's sad because I'm sure it was a gang initiation, the kids were only in their teens. The cops were watching the whole scene unfold thinking that they were unmasking a drug deal...
It's true that a bullet was stopped by a NYC subway token...try that with a Metrocard.
Marty??
Interesting how 15 years will distort a piece of folklore in someone's memory.
At least I got some parts right. Does Lawrence still live there?
a few weeks back, i had to duck under some tape to unlock my bike outside of this club. fortunately the guy lived, but i came out and was like "maaaan, not this.." kinda desensitized to it all thinking i would NOT have my bike. i just wanted to ride home.
It is I Tom...I was a bit hazy as well, Dave reminded me the other day that Lawrence actually took out a knife from his pocket to slash the lookout kid (who had a gun as well) in the chest! I'm not sure if Lawrence is still around, but I'm sure he is.
I won't get into the shootings in my neighbourhood this weekend - one of which was at an anti-violence bar-b-q for fck's sake, but this is outrageous...What kind of dirt can a teenager get into for it to come to this? Am I reading a movie script?
______________________________________________
Police seek witnesses in teen???s restaurant execution
July 12, 2010
Henry Stancu
Police are appealing to dozens of potential witnesses to come forward in the shooting death of a 17-year-old at a Chinatown restaurant on the weekend.
Tien Pham was shot in the back of the head as he sat with a group of friends in the rear of Excellent Cantonese Seafood at around 3 a.m. Saturday.
The gunman emerged from the kitchen before shooting Pham at close range.
???He walks through the kitchen. He walks into the dining room and walks directly to where Mr. Pham is sitting down. He produces a handgun and shoots Mr. Pham in the back of the head,??? Det.-Sgt. Peter Code told a news conference Monday.
While dozens of patrons fled, some remained along with staff members and tried to help the dying teen.
Code said he ???can appreciate how terrorized the patrons in the restaurant must have been,??? but urged anyone who saw the killer to contact police.
The shooter is described as a slim black male in his 20s, with a light complexion, about 5-foot-7 inches tall, a shaved head and wearing a dark-coloured hooded sweatshirt.
Code said the suspect made no attempt to hide his face and seemed to know his way around the restaurant, which has a main entrance on Spadina Ave. and a commonly used rear entrance from the back laneway into the kitchen.
Police are not releasing a photograph of the victim at his family???s request, and would not give details about Pham???s background or whether he was known to police.
???I cannot confirm at all this is gang related,??? Code said when asked if police had a motive in the slaying.
Homicide detectives are being assisted by the police guns and gangs task force in trying to solve Toronto???s 28th homicide of 2010.
Police have various angles of security video from the back laneway and are canvassing the area in search of more images.
Code described Pham???s family as ???tightly woven??? and ???absolutely devastated??? by his slaying.
He said Pham was born in Vietnam and came to Toronto when he was a child.
The thugs here are taking muggings to a whole new level over the last few weeks. There is a group of dudes that aren't bothering to threaten folks with getting cut if they don't give up their wallet or purse, dudes are running up and stabbing folks then taking their stuff. Insanity.
The jobless rate for workers aged 16 to 24 years old, which the U.S. Department of Labor categorizes as "youth," has reached the highest level ever recorded since the government began tracking the data in 1947, according to a congressional committee report released Wednesday.
The report from the Joint Economic Committee, which includes members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, found that these young workers make up just 13% of the total population, but comprise 26% of the unemployed population. The youngest workers, those 16 and 17 years old, have fared the worst with a 29% unemployment rate, the report says.
"We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have little; who've been told that they cannot have what they dream; that they cannot be what they imagine."
It's been mega violent in my town lately. summertime. I've lived in West Hollywood for 8 years and I tell people it can be raw around here but they don't believe me till they get mugged. Murders happen all the time. People forget that this is La's party town so you got mad hooligans trolling for marks.
BTW some dude got killed at Guys And Dolls down the street last night.
Comments
Oakland gang ran 'wild,' killing, robbing at random, police say
San Francisco Chronicle
February 10, 2003
By Jim Herron Zamora
Link: http://www.thefreeradical.ca/Nut_Case_Murders.htm
The bolded out murder in the above article took place 15 feet from my front door when I was living in East Lake. Dude had just finished doing his family's laundry an was returning home to eat with his wife and their newborn baby. Shit was utterly horrifying. It could have easily been me, as I would make frequent trips to the cornerstore down the street.
No where near the levels of violence that some dudes have posted up here, but in Sydney we're up there as one of the hot spots. Used to be worse years ago when there was heavy drug trafficking in the area, now things are more chilled in the sense that most of the violence involves ppl that are invovled in some shady shit as opposed to innocent citizens.
The good thing down here is there are not as much hand guns around as the US and like I said the dudes that have them are hardcore crims and usually use them on other criminals. Most of the time if a house gets shot up or a dude gets shot, there is a reason behind it, not just over some dumb shit.
The big problems atm is alot of stabbings and glassings over bullshit, especially young kids, who got no sense of a fiar fight (or even want to have one), that shit is very random and can happen to anyone, Im always weary about that when Im out and about cus Ive seen some really brutal bashings over nothing (sometimes for 'fun')....
But shit...some of the shit in your US cities is extreme.... is it because of the amount of guns around? Or just the mentality of the ppl doing this shit? Would they still be mrudering as much if they didt have guns?
I don't want to reduce a complicated situation, but yeah, this has a lot to do with it. There are lots of places where violence is common but murder is fairly rare. I think if guns were all of the sudden available in these places that the murder rate would soar.
The availability of drugs sure doesn't help either.
it's been like this in New Orleans for as long as i've been alive. the most recent awful murder to take place was at the beginning of last month: Brandon Franklin, the saxophone player and co-founder of what I think is (was?) one of the most promising young brass bands in the city-TBC Brass Band-was shot and killed while visiting his kid's mom by her jealous boyfriend, who came home after a fight with her and found him there talking to her. shot and killed him, and then turned himself in to the cops a few hours later. this kid was an assistant high school band director and could've been a leading member of this new generation of NOLA musicians.
http://www.offbeat.com/2010/05/12/brandon-franklin-of-t-b-c-brass-band-murdered/
alot of smash & grabs lately
Hispanic gangs fighting over turf
Robbery ever night close to Georgia Tech
Up & coming rappers shot dead..etc
this city is wild
Some months ago a young man was stabbed twice and run over 3 times with a car 100 yards from my front door. Defintiely a gang-style execution. The same thing happened a month ago outside my mates house up the road. So yes it does happen and yes it is nearby.
Yes.
Historically, economic hardship is not a catalyst for increased crime:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97234406
I don't know about DC, but as I mentioned earlier NYC is a completely different town than the one I moved to in the late 80's.
It's sad because I'm sure it was a gang initiation, the kids were only in their teens. The cops were watching the whole scene unfold thinking that they were unmasking a drug deal...
It's true that a bullet was stopped by a NYC subway token...try that with a Metrocard.
yikes, i used to live on first and bell in the oregon building, which has to be a less than a couple blocks from where this video was shot. that was a about a decade ago, right after they cleaned up belltown and before it apparently went back to shit.
Interesting how 15 years will distort a piece of folklore in someone's memory.
At least I got some parts right. Does Lawrence still live there?
:post_modern:
______________________________________________
Police seek witnesses in teen???s restaurant execution
July 12, 2010
Henry Stancu
Police are appealing to dozens of potential witnesses to come forward in the shooting death of a 17-year-old at a Chinatown restaurant on the weekend.
Tien Pham was shot in the back of the head as he sat with a group of friends in the rear of Excellent Cantonese Seafood at around 3 a.m. Saturday.
The gunman emerged from the kitchen before shooting Pham at close range.
???He walks through the kitchen. He walks into the dining room and walks directly to where Mr. Pham is sitting down. He produces a handgun and shoots Mr. Pham in the back of the head,??? Det.-Sgt. Peter Code told a news conference Monday.
While dozens of patrons fled, some remained along with staff members and tried to help the dying teen.
Code said he ???can appreciate how terrorized the patrons in the restaurant must have been,??? but urged anyone who saw the killer to contact police.
The shooter is described as a slim black male in his 20s, with a light complexion, about 5-foot-7 inches tall, a shaved head and wearing a dark-coloured hooded sweatshirt.
Code said the suspect made no attempt to hide his face and seemed to know his way around the restaurant, which has a main entrance on Spadina Ave. and a commonly used rear entrance from the back laneway into the kitchen.
Police are not releasing a photograph of the victim at his family???s request, and would not give details about Pham???s background or whether he was known to police.
???I cannot confirm at all this is gang related,??? Code said when asked if police had a motive in the slaying.
Homicide detectives are being assisted by the police guns and gangs task force in trying to solve Toronto???s 28th homicide of 2010.
Police have various angles of security video from the back laneway and are canvassing the area in search of more images.
Code described Pham???s family as ???tightly woven??? and ???absolutely devastated??? by his slaying.
He said Pham was born in Vietnam and came to Toronto when he was a child.
The report from the Joint Economic Committee, which includes members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, found that these young workers make up just 13% of the total population, but comprise 26% of the unemployed population. The youngest workers, those 16 and 17 years old, have fared the worst with a 29% unemployment rate, the report says.
"We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have little; who've been told that they cannot have what they dream; that they cannot be what they imagine."
Unless the cops are saying, "holes ln chest and stomach, looks like a heartattack".
HAHA!!! Damn, then B-More has a high heart attack rate!!
I don't think they can fudge them at all since the police are not the ones who officially determine the cause of death.
BTW some dude got killed at Guys And Dolls down the street last night.
http://www.tmz.com/2010/07/19/fatal-shooting-nightclub-video-guys-and-dolls-west-hollywood-shots-dead/ -video
Be safe out there and don't walk home alone, drunk. My bro got his arm broke the other night for a cell phone and a couple debt cards.